In the Heat of a New Sun
by TalysAlankil
Summary: As a child, Jake met the twins Dirk and Dave Strider, and they left a lasting imprint on the boy, even though he never even spoke to them, until he was forced to leave and live with his sister Jade on an island. Years later, when Jake escapes his isolation by going to college, his roommate turns out to have come straight from his past—and his fantasies
1. Prologue

Jake faintly remembered his time in elementary school. Back then, he was living with his uncle in Texas, and most of his memories were of heat and sun, of his cousins and the games they played, never quite settling on whether they should be detectives or adventurers.

But of school itself, he didn't remember much—except for one thing. Two boys—the coolest in the entire school. They were rich, popular, awesome; and thoroughly unreachable for the nerdy new kid that Jake was.

Even though he'd moved away after just a few years, joining his sister Jade and their grandparents to live on a remote island, he still remembered the awe that Dirk and Dave Strider had inspired his younger self—he'd never looked up to anyone as much as he'd looked up to them, even though they'd never even so much as _talked_. They were his heroes, the companions of his adventures in the jungle, his mentors. And, as he grew up, one of them would sometimes visit him in dreams of a very different nature—something he'd had a hard time dealing with.

Jade had always looked fondly at these imaginary friends of his, never quite realizing they were based off of real people somewhere. Having grown up on the island, she'd never been to school, so the idea of cool kids loved by a crowd both fascinated and terrified her. And while she'd never shared his games with the brothers, she was familiar enough with them that Jake felt comfortable talking to her about those dreams when they turned into a recurring… _thing_. One hug and a long talk later, she'd single-handedly helped Jake through the incredibly complex process of figuring out his sexuality. Living isolated didn't have many perks, but it did leave them free of prejudice.

They weren't completely oblivious to the world; it came to them through the Internet, the countless movies Jake shipped or downloaded, their correspondence with their cousins. And of course, Jake's faint memories.

As the years went by, these memories became more and more embellished, and nostalgia turned to a craving. Jake was seventeen; he knew the jungle like the back of his hand now, and it was becoming a stale stage for his adventures. The unknown, _that_ was the scariest thing, and there was no more of that on the island. He knew how to deal with the beasts, even the rare, dangerous ones; he knew that the volcano wasn't dangerous; and the old ruins in the bay were littered with things he and Jade had left there during their explorations of it.

He mentioned it to his grandparents, one evening, and they suggested Jake should apply to college. It was probably not the best idea they'd ever had—Jake had been homeschooled for years now, and still not doing all that great—but it was a good excuse to get out, and money was not an issue for the founders of the Skaiacorp tech empire. Writing essays for his applications had been more delicate, but he managed, with Jade's help.

When a positive response came from the film school of the UCLA, Jake was shocked, surprised, delighted and nervous all at the same time. He wasted no time waiting for another reply, and immediately started preparing to move to Los Angeles. It took him a week just to gather all his belongings, and much longer to sort through them—college dorms were unlikely to be large enough for his collection of movies, toys and gadgets. But eventually, he was ready, and their private jet was waiting for him.

The night before he left, Jade announced she'd decided to go with him and take an internship at the seat of Skaiacorp in Los Angeles. She'd been groomed all her life to take over the company at some point, and she figured she should start working there to see what the company was really like. Their grandparents argued, but even Jake could tell it was only to gauge how well though-out her plans were. And, this being Jade, they were perfectly wrapped up together.

She joined Jake on the jet, but they were both too excited to really enjoy it. Jade revealed she'd taken his Skaiacorp smart jacket with her, chiding him for forgetting it ("Always wear at least five computers at all times like every sane person!"), but that was pretty much the extent of their exchange on the long flight. And yet, Jade couldn't even sleep at all. This was all too unfamiliar to her, and it would probably get worse for her as they landed. Jake wasn't worried about her, though; if anyone could deal with such a situation, _she_ could.

* * *

Their goodbyes at the airport were probably unnecessarily long and teary, considering they would be living in the same city. Jake didn't want to let go of her; all of a sudden, he was starting to doubt coming here at all, and it seemed Jade had similar doubts.

But there was no turning back now, and he gently nudged her towards the limousine sent by the company for her as he made his way to the taxi line—his grandfather had offered to rent a limo as well, but Jake had refused. He was sure he'd be enough of an outsider as it was; he'd rather avoid making waves on his first day if he could.

The drive was eventless, but it took about an hour for Jake to find his way to his residence—who would have thought a college campus could be so _intricate_? And yet, he was invigorated by this wandering around; it was like an adventure, bringing him all the way back to his early days after moving in on the island. But all good adventures are about more than exploration; there's a quest, a goal. And in this adventure, his dorm was the goal, and he was more than happy to reach it.

As for the quest… it appeared to him moments after he found his room. He'd arrived to an empty room, but not unoccupied; a few bags were thrown open on one bed, clothes spilling out of it, as well as, strangely enough, puppets.

"Oh, hi," a deep voice came from behind Jake as he contemplated the strange display, startling him. He turned around to face the newcomer. "Guess you're my roommate, right? I took the bed on the left, I hope you don't mind. Honestly, I don't care either way, so if for some reason you really want it, that's fine."

Jake gaped at him for an awkwardly long time. He wore tight, black jeans and sneakers, a white t-shirt with an orange baseball hat on it, black fingerless gloves, and triangular shades. His platinum blonde hair was styled, contrasting against the tan of his skin and somehow contradicting with his careless stance and words by the attention put into his appearance. His arms crossed showed a visible outline of muscle, the lean kind that came from a lot of time spent exercising.

A half-grin formed on the boy's face under Jake's scrutiny. "Nice shorts."

Jake blinked, then glanced down at his own clothes. They were the kind he would have worn for an adventure, which was precisely why he'd chosen to wear them: a light polo short and khaki shorts, heavy sneakers, and a backpack. Optimal wear for jungle, but Jake doubted he was fashionable, and he just now realized it made him look immature. "Th-Thanks."

"Welcome. So, about that bed?"

"It's fine."

"Cool. I'm Dirk. Dirk Strider."

The name had never left his mind for all these years—and Dirk looked just how Jake had imagined him. Jake managed not to gape once more, though, and took the offered hand. "Dirk Strider…" A small frown formed on Dirk's face, but Jake continued. "Are you from Austin, per chance?"

Dirk's frown deepened, and grew more surprised. "Yeah, how do you—"

"We were in elementary school together. I'm Jake English— I doubt you'd remember me."

Dirk smirked. "Yeah, 'fraid not. But it's good to meet you now, Jake."


	2. In Los Angeles where we lay our scene

**Author's note: **FF dot net prevents pesterlog formatting (as far as I'm aware), but I shouldn't use them enough that it's going to be a problem. Still, if you want it with formatting, you can find the fic on AO3 or on my writing tumblr (talysfics dot tumblr dot com)

* * *

There was little more than smalltalk between Jake and Dirk for the rest of the evening, as both of them were busy settling in. Dirk had had a television shipped to their room, along with several consoles, and there was barely enough space for it. Still, at least Jake's collection of Skaiacorp computers and gadgets were enough to compete, if Dirk's awe at them was any indicator.

"That's some nice shit right there. I mean, I prefer to build my own computers, but I have the deepest respect for Skaiacorp technology. It's good stuff. Not like all the Crockercorp junk most students have around here."

Jake smiled, and didn't argue. His family's relation to the Crockercorp empire was complicated enough, but he didn't feel like explaining all of that to Dirk. Not making waves, and all that.

"You build your computers? So you're quite tech-savvy, aren't you?" Perfect, subtle change of topic. Jade would have been proud.

"You could say that. I'm more into artificial intelligence, though. Hardware's too basic for a mind like mine."

"I bet it is." Had he really just said that? With the stupidest grin on his face?

Dirk, however, smirked back. "Don't get ironic with me. You don't want to face the master."

Relief submerged Jake, tainted by mortification. "R-Right." He turned around, pretending to sort through his DVDs again as he wrestled his expression back under control. This wasn't the Dirk of his imagination, the one from his dreams—Jake shoved _that_ thought back as soon as it popped up. "But you're studying at the film school too, right? That's an odd choice, if you're into computers."

Dirk shrugged. "Yeah, well, I've programmed my first sentient AI years ago, so I don't think I have much to learn there." A soft ringtone interrupted him—it took Jake a moment to realize it came from Dirk's shades. "Gotta go, sorry. Again, it was nice meeting you, roommate. See you in the morning, probably."

"Wait, what? Where're you going?"

"Top-secret party. I'd invite you along, but it's on a need-to-know basis only."

That revived old memories of the cool, untouchable kid in elementary school. "Aw, shucks. All right, then. Have fun—" Dirk hadn't waited for his answer, and he was already gone.

* * *

Jake couldn't sleep much that night; not because of the lack of comfort—the room was much less nice than what he'd had back home, but he'd spent enough nights in the jungle not to care—but because he couldn't help but summon back his memories of Dirk. Not the one he'd met as a child, but the one who only existed in his mind. He couldn't help but compare his imaginary friend to the real, grown-up version of his childhood hero.

What was most striking was how alike they were. He'd always pictured him with shades, with a sharp wit and somewhat elaborate language; he'd always pictured him gorgeous. And he was all those things. Maybe that was why he'd slipped earlier, momentarily turning into a lovesick puppy—because, in a sense, he was. Dirk wasn't just a vague acquaintance from his past, he was a dream come true.

Well, except his dream Dirk would have ditched the party to enjoy this reunion with Jake in the privacy of their room. Or invited him along; Jake wasn't sure.

He hadn't slept enough on the plane to stay awake all night, but Dirk hadn't come back yet when Jake did eventually fall asleep. Maybe he really did intend to only come back in the morning. Would he be one of _those_ roommates, who's practically always absent? That would be quite ironic—to meet Dirk again only to find him completely oblivious to Jake's presence. And Dirk was, in his own words, the master of irony.

Jake had arrived in Los Angeles just in time for the first day of classes, and he got up earlier than necessary the next morning, to be sure he'd find his way around this time.

The dorm's common bathroom was still empty when he entered it, which was expected at this early hour. Or at least, so Jake thought: as he was placing his stuff on one of the sinks, one of the shower stalls' door opened. Surprised, Jake whipped around to find Dirk emerging from it, wrapped in a towel. Most of his body was still dripping with water, but his hair was already dry and perfectly styled, and Dirk carried a bottle of gel in his hand.

The boy looked as surprised to see Jake as Jake was to see him, and froze for a second. But only a second. "'Sup."

Jake did his best to not stare at this bare, wet chest, but that only brought his eyes to Dirk's face, which was shades-free this time. Jake wasn't really sure what he'd expected his eyes to look like—maybe a similar cartoonish shape as his triangular shades were?—but he definitely couldn't have expected what he found. They were almond-shaped, and perhaps a little too small—or maybe that was an illusion in contrast to his shades—and their color… in the bathroom's sharp, white light, they looked almost golden.

He noticed all that as Dirk walked up to him, and suddenly realized the boy was pretty much crowding him up against the sink. The closeness didn't help with how distracting the boy was. From up close, Jake realized that Dirk was maybe an inch or two shorter than him, and being forced to look down meant Jake had no choice but to gaze upon his chest now.

Trying to shake it off, Jake figured he should greet him. Yes, that was how functional people worked, right? "Gee, good morning, Dirk! How're you doing?" Too cheerful.

Dirk winced. "Not so loud," he grumbled.

"Sorry."

"'S all right. Usually I get to sleep it off, but… classes." Jake didn't need to ask what 'it' was—his breath carried the smell of alcohol. It wasn't particularly strong, and Dirk didn't act like Jake imagined a drunk person would, but he could still guess that was what he meant. "Do you mind— my shades," he said, nodding behind Jake.

He glanced over his shoulder to see Dirk's shades on the sink behind him. How he hadn't noticed them before was beyond him. He hand them to Dirk, who snatched them from his hands as if Jake was unworthy of touching them. Or him. It wasn't really clear, and with Dirk being sort of drunk, Jake wasn't even sure it was intentional.

Dirk put his shades on. "Well, I'll— go get dressed."

"Hold on!" Jake said before Dirk opened the door. "You have a class this morning? Is it film theory?"

Dirk glanced back at Jake. "Yeah. You too?"

Jake nodded. "Maybe we could go together?"

Dirk shrugged. "Sure. I'll wait for you in our room."

That was more than Jake had expected, and he hurried through his morning routine as much as possible; he didn't want to risk keeping Dirk waiting, or worse, that he would grow tired of waiting and leave.

He was worried for nothing, though; when he returned to their room, Jake was clothed and ready to go, and he found Dirk passed out on his bed. His faced was shoved into his pillow—probably to shield his eyes from the sun that filtered through the window—and he was still only wearing the same towel, whose tie was getting dangerously loose.

Jake wasn't sure if he should let him sleep or not, but he figured he couldn't let Dirk sleep now, after Dirk had seemingly gone through a lot of trouble to get ready for class. He reached out to his shoulder and gently nudged him, and Dirk woke up with a start.

"What?"

"You fell asleep, but I thought—" Jake wasn't sure what to say. Maybe Jake should have let him sleep after all; at least if that was the wrong choice, Jake wouldn't have had to face it right now.

But Dirk didn't seem mad; instead, he sighed. "Right. Thanks for that. Just give me a minute, I'll be ready in no time."

In one swift motion, Dirk was up and searching for clothes through his drawers. As if on its own accord, the towel slipped from around Dirk's waist, and Jake turned around, furiously blushing and trying his best to focus on something else.

Moments later, Dirk was nudging him. "What're you staring at? Come on, let's go."

Jake turned back, and Dirk was—thankfully?—clothed now. "That was fast."

"You have no idea how fast I can be." Even with the shades back on Dirk's face, Jake could hear a wink in his voice. He wasn't even sure what that was supposed to mean, but he couldn't shake the impression that Dirk's tone and smirk were… _suggestive_.

Too suggestive to resist. "I'll just have to find out, then, won't I?"

Dirk's smile grew even larger. "Careful; I might hold you to that."

Jake's blush was returning in full force; it was time to end this before it got embarrassing. "We should go."

* * *

As it turned out, Jake and Dirk shared the majority of their schedule, and they ended up spending the entire morning together, as well as lunch.

"Shouldn't you go get some rest? I thought you didn't have classes in the afternoon."

"No. I don't want to fuck up my sleep pattern _completely_. It's bad enough as it is."

Jake shrugged. If last night was any indication, he doubted there was a way to make it worse, but he refrained from saying so. "So why did you take all those theoretical classes?"

Dirk eyed him, one eyebrow raised. "Why did you?"

"The ones I take are compulsory. You took extra. Why?"

"Why not? I don't want to make movies. I'm just interested in scrutinizing them. Analyzing pop culture and whatnot."

Jake stared at him in disbelief. "You're in film school and you don't want to make movies?"

Dirk shrugged. "Maybe eventually. But that's not my endgame."

"Then what is?"

Jake never got an answer; Dirk distracted him by asking whether they should go eat off campus, and he never brought it back up again. Jake didn't either, guessing it wouldn't be very considerate of him. They eventually settled in a diner not too far from campus—far enough from the student crowd to Dirk's liking, close enough for Jake to be back on time for his afternoon classes.

"Why the shades?" he found himself asking. "It can't be practical to have them on at all times."

"I'm here incognito."

Jake laughed, but Dirk didn't, and Jake wondered if it _had_ been a joke. "So what about your brother? I seem to recall _he_ wanted to make movies when he was a kid."

"Dave's already out there being successful. He's made an ironic webcomic based off of his weird dreams, and now it's being turned into a movie, would you believe that?"

"Weird dreams?"

Dirk chuckled. "_That's_ the part you latch on to? Why am I even surprised. Yeah, he's met this guy when we were kids, John something, and he started having weird dreams about him a few years later, after the guy left. Not— you know, nothing sexual. Just plain old weirdness."

Jake was a little disheartened by Dirk's sudden insistence that it was 'nothing sexual', but he guessed he should have expected it. A detail caught his attention, though. "When you were kids, you said? In elementary school, right? Was the boy named John Egbert, by any chance?"

"Um— yeah, that might be it. Why? Friend of yours?"

"That's my cousin." John had never told him he knew Dave Strider. Of course, John hadn't known about Jake's admiration for the Strider siblings—nobody had—and it could very well have happened after Jake left. Still, it was quite the coincidence. "And he based a webcomic on those dreams?"

"Yup. A masterpiece of irony. I'm proud of him for that. Also, it's supposedly groundbreaking and massively popular or something, and the 'based on a dream' part apparently drew a lot of attention, but who cares about all that shit?" He sighed. "Really, how can you not have heard of _Homestuck_?"

Jake ignored the quip. "That's why you're here incognito. Because you don't want anyone to 'care about that shit' when they meet you."

Dirk eyed him—okay, it was hard to tell _how_ exactly with the shades, but he definitely stared at him. "Maybe."

"Not the best location to be incognito, so close to Hollywood." Jake immediately regretted his teasing as he saw Dirk flinch, as if he was withdrawing into his shell. More softly, Jake added, "I get how you feel."

"Somehow I doubt that." His tone wasn't inviting, but Jake felt like he owed him a confession back, in exchange for all Dirk had just told him.

"My grandma is the founder and CEO of Skaiacorp. That's how I've got all that collection with me." And _on_ him—like a sane person, he was wearing the jacket Jade had given him.

"I didn't even know she had kids, let alone _grand_kids."

"Well, I'm adopted. Me and my sister Jade, both. She took our grandmother's last name, and I took our grandfather's. I'm not really sure why, to be honest. It's all online, if you don't believe me."

Dirk remained silent for a moment, during which Jake suspected him to be using his shades to browse the net for confirmation. "Wow. That's some fucked-up family history; how did I not know that? I meant no offense when insulting the Crockercorp shit. Um, stuff."

Jake chuckled. "None taken. I'm not particularly close to that side of the family." His great-aunt was the current CEO of the Crockercorp empire, but that had been the very reason his family was torn apart. "That's why I left Texas, way back then. I was living with my uncle—well, my great-aunt's son, I don't even know how you call that—when Skaiacorp became a serious rival."

"And you've really been living on an island since then? That explains some things."

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean, mister?"

Dirk smiled, however, and that quelled whatever anger may have arisen. It wasn't a mocking smirk; instead, it was the closest thing to a true smile Jake had seen on him yet. "You are kind of clueless, Jake. But don't worry, it's part of your charm."

* * *

Skaiacorp owned a building in downtown Los Angeles, which served both as the company's seat on the west coast and a residence for the Harley-English family, should they desire to use it. More specifically, Jade now lived in the penthouse, and her office was just a couple floors below.

She was only an intern, of course, so she didn't actually have an office of her own—although her boss had offered her one when she'd arrived—but that was where she worked. The communication service of the research and development department, in charge of helping the scientists explain to the bigwigs and investors of the company why their ideas were good ideas. At least, that's how Jade saw it.

Her own job was ill-defined at best: running errands, meeting the teams and making sure communication went smoothly. She was only a degree short of being on equal ground with most of the R&amp;D team in terms of scientific background, and when they realized that, they warmed up to her fast. As for the communication side… well, most of them seemed intimidated by her.

That left her with an unfortunate amount of free time, and she could only spend so much of it observing how people worked at the company without it getting awkward. In the afternoon of her first day, she retreated to her desk, diligently compiling everything she needed to—and quickly running out. With nothing better to do, she looked around the computer's installed programs, and found with delight that Pesterchum was one of those.

It shouldn't have been surprising, really: the chat program was one of Skaiacorp's best-selling products, and the company needed some form of easy communication. She logged on, but no one in her small list of chums was online, unfortunately.

However, there _was_ someone online in the other list. The blocked one.

CG: GOD DAMN IT HARLEY STOP DOING THAT. I TOLD YOU IT DOESN'T WORK.

Jade sighed. _Of course_ that troll would find a way to go around being blocked again.

GG: weve been over this GG: i dont want to talk to you! CG: OH FUCK ME CG: WHY DO I HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS *AGAIN* GG: no ones forcing you to!

She blocked him again before he could go on another one of his tirades, then logged off. It probably wouldn't be long until he returned anyway, but the only thing worse than being bored right now was dealing with this guy.

She didn't have time to be bored, however. Her phone rang moments later.

"Hello?" An irrational part of her wondered if the troll had found her number somehow.

"Is it true?"

Jade gasped in relief—this was the friendly, familiar voice of Jane. Jade had never met her cousins, of course, but she had spoken to them on the phone quite—especially with Jane. "I guess you're talking about me moving out? Yeah, I'm in Los Angeles now, with Jake. Well, sort of. He's gone to college, and I went along."

"I _knew_ it. My dad's freaking out, he thinks you're trying to undermine me."

Jade frowned. "Undermine… you? Why?"

"I've started running Crockercorp California a month ago. Didn't I mention it?"

They hadn't talked for the past month, while Jade had been busy planning her move. "So you're in LA, too? That's awesome! We should meet!"

There was a short silence on Jane's end. "You're right, we should! Hang on, I'll— Oh, shucks, I've got to go. I'll text you to tell you when I'm available to meet, okay? I'm so excited to finally get to see you!"

"Me too. See you soon, Jane!"


End file.
